Not just cross-border, a challenge around the world
I failed the challenge. Five times.
Of course, I am talking about the Whitney Houston Drumbeat Challenge, a viral challenge in which you try to perfectly hit the iconic downbeat that comes just before the final chorus in Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You”. It doesn’t matter how you hit it – drumbeat, clap, hitting a gong, or your little brother, as long as it perfectly matches the beat. To date, 25,000 people have posted videos of themselves failing, and sometimes achieving, the perfect match in tens of millions of views.
I should be one of the achievers. I studied cajon. I played drum songs. I learned to follow a metronome. I even learned to read drum notation and write simple drum tunes. So I should be able to count the notes, follow the beat, and hit the spot.
Nope. Close, but no drum hit.
I am not alone. A wide range of famous and non-famous people have posted videos attempting the Drumbeat Challenge. Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali tied it during a “Jurassic World” promo event (some got it, some didn’t); the entire Tottenham Hotspur Soccer Team (a few got it right). Paula Abdul (almost), Linkin Park (some did, some not ), Blue Man Group (yes!). Erin Shea, a Connecticut fifth-grade math teacher got it right on a video that attracted millions of views. Griswold CT Middle School teachers, students, school mascot, and a local police officer (yes and no), and the South African HOT 1027 Radio Morning Team hosts Bunny & Simon, who both missed. The Lima Music Studio in Peru, the Mexican influencer @jorgeyeah01, and the Mexican rock band Reik, have all given it a shot.
Why is the drumbeat so hard to get right? Well, it is not what you expect and it’s not where you expect it. First off, it is a quarter note, not a full or even half note – hard to match. And the song uses an extended rest before the drum hit, so you have to second-guess when the beat will drop.
And you can’t count through the pause – the downbeat is off the standard count. So if you count beats to anticipate the note and wack it, you will be early or late. Even trained musicians find that their sense of time can be fooled by the powerful silence and beat expectation. In fact, the producer who put in the beat, David Foster, missed it a few times in his challenge.
As regular readers know, I usually focus on new releases and new artists, so a column about a song written by Dolly Parton in 1973 and released by Whitney Houston in 1992 on the soundtrack of The Bodyguard film is a little off target for me, especially since Houston died a dozen years ago. But a classic is a classic, and a challenge is a challenge. So here I go again: 1-2-3-4- half-note – bang. No? argh!
Banner. TikTok @PTXofficial: Kristie
Patrick O’Heffernan
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